Columbus school-levy bill advances in legislature

Wednesday

May 29, 2013 at 12:01 AMMay 29, 2013 at 9:54 AM

After hearing testimony from two Columbus school-board members and others, the Ohio House Education Committee voted 16-3 yesterday to send a bill to the full House that would require a school district property-tax issue on the November ballot.

Bill Bush, The Columbus Dispatch

After hearing testimony from two Columbus school-board members and others, the Ohio House Education Committee voted 16-3 yesterday to send a bill to the full House that would require a school district property-tax issue on the November ballot.

The bill, supported by the city administration and the school board, also would require that some of the money brought in by the Columbus school-district levy be shared with charter schools. That provision requires a change in state law.

Joining the committee’s 12 Republican members in favor of the bill were four Democrats — including its co-sponsor, Tracy Maxwell Heard of Columbus. Three Democrats voted no.

The bill, backed by Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s education commission, also would allow district voters to create the position of independent auditor, to be appointed mostly by city officials. It was amended to allow the new auditor to also investigate charter schools receiving local tax dollars, but not the “public-private partnership,” a nonprofit corporation that would get the money to distribute to charters.

Columbus Board of Education President Carol Perkins testified that, though the school board voted 6-1 to support the bill, she feels it’s critical to alter the bill to allow the new auditor to investigate both the public-private partnership and charter schools that receive local cash. The bill also should mandate that the new auditor check all student-level data to ensure their integrity, at both the district and participating charters, Perkins told lawmakers.

Asked by Rep. Teresa Fedor, a Democrat from Toledo, whether sharing tax money with charters would drain money from district schools, leading to fewer teachers and larger class sizes, Perkins responded that she was “not prepared to answer that at this time.”

The law also would allow the Columbus mayor to sponsor charter schools, leading Fedor, who voted against the bill, to say existing state law would grant the mayor the right to collect a 3 percent fee from those charters. Any charters that hire a private management firm couldn’t be effectively audited by anyone, Fedor charged, who also said it was against the Ohio Constitution to share local funds with charters.

“As I see it, he (Coleman) is your competition,” Fedor told Perkins. “He’s going to be taking money out of your organization. ... You’re not going to get the levy. You’re practically going to give most of it away.”

Perkins responded that she doesn’t view Coleman as the district’s competition.

Columbus City Council President Andrew J. Ginther testified in support of the plan, noting that only 35 percent of local charter schools are graded at an A or B on the state report card, and that local money would help recruit more good charter schools. The mayor’s education commission set a goal of every school ranking at an A or B by 2025.

But the committee’s vice chairman, state Rep. Andrew Brenner, a Republican from Powell, noted that Ginther was a member of the Columbus school board when it fired a previous internal auditor who was about to launch a data-rigging investigation, and now he would be an appointing authority of any new independent auditor. The law would have the Columbus mayor, auditor, city council president, a county judge and the district school-board president pick the new auditor, who would be funded by district taxpayers.

Is the new post “truly going to be independent, or are there going to be political strings attached?” Brenner asked Ginther.

Ginther said the new post would provide checks and balances, which he said he’s always supported.

School board member Mike Wiles testified by blasting the proposed law, saying it won’t help do anything except create more bureaucracy and “reinvent the wheel.”

bbush@dispatch.com

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